"Fall Down Seven, Stand Up Eight": How do people persist despite setbacks?

“How do people persist despite setbacks?”  This is a question I have been asking myself recently.

I think we can learn a lot from athletes.  Last semester, while I was rowing in the provincial race, my seat fell off the track and stopped four times.  It wrecked my performance and the performance of our eight boat but I quickly took the seat off the track four times and put it back on and continued rowing.  I didn't even think for a second to stop rowing, quit, and not finish the race.

I learned a lot from this competition and many other experiences over my athletic journey .  No matter how hard you try to control life and practice for the perfect race or game (in sport and in life), things can go wrong.   As much as you try to control it, you can never control the actions of others and the environment around you.  The aspect you can control, however, is how you react to the situation (i.e., your attitude).